Practicing Mindfulness in Groups: 8 Activities and Exercises

What Is Group Mindfulness?

Humans are social animals. We have evolved to connect and share our thoughts and beliefs with other like-minded individuals.

And we don’t need to be on our own to be mindful.

While mindfulness can be learned through books, apps, audio, and videos, there are times when practicing within a group setting provides better results.

Indeed, over the last two decades, the popularity of mindfulness has soared, as have the opportunities to connect with others on a similar journey. Groups are now available in meetups, workplaces, healthcare providers, and gyms.

Group motivation

We all need motivation, even when we know something is good for us. Whether it’s going for a run, eating well, or practicing mindfulness, we sometimes need support.

To increase the likelihood that we persist, we must be intrinsically motivated – driven by internal rewards – and meet our basic psychological needs (Ryan & Deci, 2018).

For group mindfulness to sustain and maintain our commitment, we need to feel connected. We must experience a sense of belonging and own our decisions and actions while experiencing opportunities, support, skill development, and growth as an individual.

Indeed, organized group meditation provides an opportunity for those who might not practice alone to show up.

Taking our three key psychological needs (Ryan & Deci, 2018) in turn, we look at how organized group meditation meets them and enhances our motivation.

Relatedness

Like any activity, when performed as part of a group, we can motivate one another.

Having others present during a mindfulness session can boost our resolve and provide a sense of ‘we are in this together,’ especially when we are prone to distraction. Booking time and committing to others can mean we are more likely to turn up.

Social facilitation theory suggests that people act better or deliver more when they are being watched or competing with others.

Surprisingly, individuals even eat more when part of a group than when alone (Herman, 2017).

Competence

We all doubt our abilities; it’s part of being human, yet we crave feelings of competence (Ryan & Deci, 2018).

Having the support of a group and the opportunity to talk about the difficulties we face can help calm fears and doubts.

If the leader makes time for the group to discuss the challenges they face, each session can provide a valuable opportunity to share solutions.

Autonomy

“Creating a therapeutic environment that supports autonomy needs is an especially important task for the therapist” (Dwyer, Hornsey, Smith, Oei, & Dingle, 2011).

Autonomy is especially true in mindfulness, where the needs of each individual must be captured and met by the group session.

A no judgment rule must be set to ensure each person feels they are in a safe space to air concerns, hopes, or challenges they are facing.

While it may sound counterintuitive, mindfulness as a group may have fewer distractions and offer a more profound experience. However, we must also take into account the varying levels of experience and the abilities of each individual.

Let’s take a look at three research areas that have found success using the group approach.

Examples of group mindfulness

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been used successfully in a wide variety of settings and for several different mental health issues.

Practitioners work with the group to identify and respond to thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations to decrease the severity of symptoms and improve overall life functioning (Lenz, Hall, & Bailey Smith, 2015)

The group environment supports individuals through social comparison. We each have an innate drive to compare ourselves with one another, and it can be used to normalize our experiences of depression and provide ongoing support.

Sharing personal experiences and giving feedback within the group supports the development process, ensures accountability for the completion of weekly homework, and illuminates collective meaningfulness (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002).

A typical group session might consist of the following:

• Begin with a mindfulness practice, such as a body-scan.
• Explore the theme of the session(s).
• Use participatory dialogue to investigate and explore experiences.
• Introduce short mindful sessions to break down some of the formality of the therapy.
• Wrap up with a short mindfulness session.

Mindfulness and asthma

There are 330 million people around the world who are impacted by asthma. In the UK alone, someone has a severe asthma attack every 10 seconds, with three people dying every day.

And for some, existing treatments do not work.

Many patients with asthma suffer frequent bouts of psychological stress and anxiety. As a result, researchers are turning their attention to understand the links between anxiety and asthma, and approaches that may help.

A 2020 study exploring the impact of group mindfulness therapy using both MBSR and MBCT in people with asthma found significant improvements in both anxiety and stress (Ainsworth et al., 2020).

Adolescent anxiety

Anxiety is common within school-age groups. Although Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) interventions have had some success, they are not commonplace, and up to 50% of cases are still coping with symptoms when they finish.

Group sessions for mindfulness have proved successful at lowering stress and anxiety and improving attention in school settings where time and resources prohibit individual sessions (Crowley et al., 2017).